10 Reasons Women Should Lift!

Many women believe that the only way to lose weight is to do cardiovascular (aerobic exercise). So they jog or take aerobics classes five times a week. Eventually, though, they notice that while their bodies are a little smaller, there are still a lot of flabby and jiggly bits. Sound familiar? Aerobic exercise is important for good health, but it’s only half of the equation. Keep reading for the other half.

For optimal fitness, longevity, and a lean body, weight training is essential. If you avoid pumping iron because you’re afraid of getting “bulky,” then you’re missing out on one of the best fat-burning methods around.

When you’re weight training, you shouldn’t rely exclusively on the scale to gauge your progress. You can use a body fat tester or a tape measure to track how many inches you’re losing. The size of your body will shrink as you shed fat and build muscle, but your weight may not change as dramatically as you expect. Besides, what’s more important, the number on the scale or how you look in your skinny jeans?

If you’re still not convinced that you need to lift weights, here are 10 reasons you should reconsider.

1. Burn more fat. Researchers at Tufts University found that when overweight women lifted heavy weights twice a week, they lost an average of 14.6 pounds of fat and gained 1.4 pounds of muscle. The control group, women who dieted but didn’t lift weights, lost only 9.2 pounds of fat and gained no muscle. When you do an intense weight-training program such as ChaLEAN Extreme, your metabolism stays elevated and you continue to burn fat for several hours afterward. During regular cardio exercise, you stop burning fat shortly after the workout.

2. Change your body shape. You may think your genes determine how you look. That’s not necessarily true. Weight training can slim you down, create new curves, and help avoid the “middle-age spread.” Just look at the amazing body transformations of the women who’ve completed P90X. Dropping only 3 percent of your body fat could translate into a total loss of 3 inches off your hips and thighs. And no, you won’t bulk up—women don’t have enough muscle-building hormones to gain a lot of mass like men do. If you keep your diet clean and create a calorie deficit, you’ll burn fat.

3. Boost your metabolism. The less muscle you have, the slower your metabolism will be. As women age, they lose muscle at increasing rates, especially after the age of 40. When you diet without doing resistance training, up to 25 percent of the weight loss may be muscle loss. Weight training while dieting can help you preserve and even rebuild muscle fibers. The more lean mass you have, the higher your metabolism will be and the more calories you’ll burn all day long.

4. Get stronger and more confident. Lifting weights increases functional fitness, which makes everyday tasks such as carrying children, lifting grocery bags, and picking up heavy suitcases much easier. According to the Mayo Clinic, regular weight training can make you 50 percent stronger in 6 months. Being strong is also empowering. Not only does it improve your physical activities, it builds emotional strength by boosting self-esteem and confidence.

5. Build strong bones. It’s been well documented that women need to do weight-bearing exercise to build and maintain bone mass, and to prevent osteoporosis. Just as muscles get stronger and bigger with use, so do bones when they’re made to bear weight. Stronger bones and increased muscle mass also lead to better flexibility and balance, which is especially important for women as they age.

6. Fight depression. You’ve probably heard that cardio and low-impact exercises such as yoga help alleviate depression, and weight lifting has the same effect. The endorphins that are released during aerobic activities are also present during resistance training. Many women find that regular strength training, in conjunction with psychological treatment, helps lessen their depression symptoms substantially.

7. Improve sports fitness. You don’t have to be an athlete to get the sports benefit of weight training. Improved muscle mass and strength will help you in all physical activities, whether it’s bicycling with the family, swimming, golfing, or skiing…whatever sport you enjoy.

8. Reduce injuries and arthritis. Weight lifting improves joint stability and builds stronger ligaments and tendons. Training safely and with proper form can help decrease the likelihood of injuries in your daily life. It can also improve physical function in people with arthritis. A study conducted at the University of Wales in Bangor, United Kingdom, found that mildly disabled participants who lifted weights for 12 weeks increased the frequency and intensity at which they could work, with less pain and increased range of movement.

9. Get heart healthy. More than 480,000 women die from cardiovascular disease each year, making it the number-one killer of women over the age of 25. Most people don’t realize that pumping iron can also keep your heart pumping. Lifting weights increases your “good” (HDL) cholesterol and decreases your “bad” (LDL) cholesterol. It also lowers your blood pressure. The Journal of the American Medical Association reports that people who do 30 minutes of weight lifting each week have a 23 percent reduced risk of developing heart disease compared to those who don’t lift weights.

10. Defend against diabetes. In addition to keeping your ticker strong, weight training can improve glucose utilization (the way your body processes sugar) by as much as 23 percent. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 16 weeks of strength training can improve glucose metabolism in a way that is comparable to taking diabetes medication. The more lean mass you have, the more efficient your body is at removing glucose from the blood, which can reduce complications from diabetes or even help prevent type 2 diabetes in the first place.

For Information on these or any Beachbody Fitness program and FREE COACHING message me today or connect with me on facebook www.facebook.com/coachstevemiller

Gaining Mass With P90X

How to Gain Mass With P90X

Guys have a thing for mass. It’s hard to explain, really, but boys seem to grow up wanting nothing more than to be big. Guys want speedboats and trucks, and they want to look like The Hulk, regardless of what their wives may think of green skin. If this sounds like you, here’s the article you’ve been looking for: customizing P90X for mass.
Even if mass is your only goal, make sure to read the subsequent articles in the series on customizing the X. The principles discussed in subsequent articles will be put to use here. To look like The Hulk, you don’t need to douse yourself in Gamma radiation, but you do need to consider science as we know it. The articles that have appeared in our last few issues all led up to the question: what is mass? (See the Related Articles section below for the last few issues on customizing the X.)
What is mass?
Because many of our Success Stories, not to mention Tony, aren’t exactly skinny, we must begin by defining mass—most of you are looking for more. Mass simply means size. As part of the word massive, we assume it means above average in size. It doesn’t, but that’s beside the point. A program targeting mass is concerned with one thing: muscle growth (from here on in referred to as hypertrophy), and a lot of it.
In a training cycle for mass, we should target hypertrophy even at the expense of other fitness goals. P90X is not a system designed for mass. It’s designed for overall fitness, which means that ultimate gains in targeted areas, like speed, strength, flexibility, and muscle growth, are compromised to provide a program that improves all of your body’s physical energy systems during one 90-day effort. We feel as though this is the preferred training system because it addresses the big picture. But if your picture is quite literally being bigger, then you’ll need to read on.
Foundation
You’ve read about the capacity for improvement throughout this series, so here’s where I tell you to do a round of P90X as it’s designed before embarking on a mass-specific program. It’s healthier, sure, but it’s more than that. Training all of your body’s energy systems until they’re running efficiently increases your body’s ability to do, well, anything. Part of anything includes looking like Lou Ferrigno. Once you’ve done a round of the X and aced your fit test, the foundation has been laid. You’re ready to start gettin’ big.
Resistance
Tony loves the word specificity. He often uses it when referring to exercise movements, but we’re going to use it to refer to the equipment you’ll need. With mass as your goal, you’d better acquire specific resistance equipment. The simplest form is weights; however, mass can also be created by using other forms of tension, like resistance bands. The bottom line is that if mass is your goal, you’ll need to have more weight available than you’ve been using. Body weight and plyometric movements can be used effectively for strength training, but strength and hypertrophy are not synonymous. To make hypertrophic gains, you’re going to need to find ways to make your body fail at a given number of repetitions. You’ll want an array of weights and bands, and some extra devices like ankle and wrist weights, or a weight vest, to add resistance to all the movements you’re doing.
The difference between size and strength
As we touched on last time, hypertrophy training simply increases the size of the muscle. Strength training increases the efficiency of the muscle. Large muscles have a greater capacity for strength. Absolute strength is the ability of the muscle to use all of its muscle cells for movement. People in sports dependent on strength-to-weight ratios target high muscular efficiency in their training, whereas those in sheer size-dependent sports will focus more on hypertrophy. Most sports are somewhat dependent on both size and strength, which are ideally improved during different cycles of training.
Periodization
The periodizational concepts that have been discussed in prior issues need to be explained here before a mass schedule is created. Remember that a standard schedule would look similar to this:
Foundation phase (Power 90 or what you did pre-X) + block 1 + transition/recovery + block 2 + transition/recovery + block 3 + recovery = peak (final fit test)The difference here is that we’re going to structure an entire training cycle based only on hypertrophy. This means we won’t be setting up a peak phase. Over a long period of time, you would want to teach your muscles how to function more efficiently. We’ll get to this at the end.
For now, we’ll just say that there is still a periodizational approach to consider. You will still adapt, gain, and plateau over time, so we’ll need a structure to keep this happening. But the structure will be dependent simply on rep schemes (the number of repetitions that you target to bring you to failure) and progressive overload. The blocks of our 90-day schedule will each target a different number of repetitions, which you’ll want to aim for to induce failure. But because we’re not changing the schedule much, and thus creating less Muscle Confusion, we won’t need such frequent recovery phases.
Progressive overload
Hypertrophy is all about creating progressive overload. To create muscle growth, you must keep stimulating the muscles during each workout. This requires that you add weight as necessary to create failure at the desired number of reps.
Recovery
The more we can focus on hypertrophy, the more muscle we’ll gain. Since we only have so much energy to expend, this means we should spend less time working on other areas. This is where you’ll see the biggest differences from the traditional P90X schedules. When you’re not training for hypertrophy, your entire focus should be on preparing your body to create more hypertrophy. Therefore, the P90X mass schedule will have a lot of active recovery and flexibility work and very little intense cardio. This means we’ll spend more time recovering during each training block and taking fewer periods focused solely on recovery.
Putting it all together
Before we get to the schedule, here are some general things to consider. The first is pacing. Instead of following the kids in the videos, target your rep scheme (and push pause when necessary). Do each set to failure (if you can add enough resistance; if not, get as close as you can), and don’t exceed your targeted number of reps. Do not, however, use the pause button simply to increase the time between exercises.
A good way to choose the resistance for each movement is to use enough so that you can only do the lower number of your targeted rep scheme. Once you can do the higher number, it’s time to increase the resistance. Do your repetitions slowly and with control. Speed is for power, not size. Focus on perfect form and only add weight when you can do each rep with great form.
When you’re done, you’re done. You don’t need to finish an entire workout if you’re struggling. Once you lose the ability to move the weight or do the move in strict form, stop the workout. Any further training would only create more breakdown than you could recover from and increase your risk of injury.
Your diet
You won’t be burning as many calories as you would during the classic schedule of the X. If you eat the same amount, you may gain more mass, but you’ll also gain more body fat. This might or might not be acceptable, so pay attention and adjust your diet as necessary. If you want mass, then you need to eat enough for your body to put on weight. I will write more about this diet scenario in the future.

Block 1, phase 1 (Weeks 1 through 3)
Day 1: Chest, Shoulders, & Triceps
Day 2: Cardio X, Ab Ripper X
Day 3: Legs & Back
Day 4: X Stretch; Ab Ripper X or Abs/Core Plus (from P90X Plus)
Day 5: Back & Biceps
Day 6: Yoga X
Day 7: Off
Targeted number of reps: 8 to 12 (focus on 10 to 12)

Block 1, phase 2 (Weeks 4 through 6)
Day 1: Chest & Back
Day 2: Cardio X, Ab Ripper X
Day 3: Shoulders & Arms
Day 4: X Stretch; Ab Ripper X or Abs/Core Plus
Day 5: Legs & Back
Day 6: Yoga X
Day 7: Off
Targeted number of reps: 8 to 12 (focus on 8 to 10)
Recovery Block (Week 7)
Day 1: X Stretch
Day 2: Yoga X
Day 3: Core Synergistics
Day 4: Kenpo X
Day 5: Yoga X
Day 6: X Stretch
Day 7: Off

Block 2, phase 1 (Weeks 8 and 9)
Day 1: Chest, Shoulders, & Triceps
Day 2: Cardio X, Ab Ripper X
Day 3: Legs & Back
Day 4: X Stretch; Ab Ripper X or Abs/Core Plus
Day 5: Back & Biceps
Day 6: Yoga X
Day 7: Off
Day 8: Chest & Back
Day 9: Cardio X, Ab Riper X
Day 10: Shoulders & Arms
Day 11: X Stretch; Ab Ripper X or Abs/Core Plus
Day 12: Legs & Back
Day 13: Yoga X
Day 14: Off
Targeted number of reps: 6 to 10
Block 2, phase 2 (Weeks 10 and 11)
Same schedule as weeks 8 and 9
Targeted number of reps: 4 to 8
Block 2, phase 3 (Week 12)
Same schedule as weeks 8 and 9
Targeted number of reps: 4 to 6
Final note: This is an entire cycle of training based only on hypertrophy. To have an athletically efficient physique, you should do other training cycles that target different goals. Even if your only goal is hypertrophy, training these other systems properly will improve your body’s physical systems and increase your capacity for muscle growth, as well as the speed at which you can add or shed muscle and fat. So while you can tweak and reuse this basic structure over and over, it will also benefit you to get back to basics and do P90X classic from time to time. The P90X series is now available through Beachbody's On Demand feature. For just 2.99 a week you have access to over 5000.00 in proven programs.You can do a challenge pack which includes your club membership and first month of Shakeology for just an amazing 140.00. You have 30 days free to try the programs and will be billed 38.00 every 3 months and your shakeology is 129.00 which also has a 30 day bottom of the bag guarantee! No risk = no reason not to try! You can message me at metricmiller@gmail with any questions or click the SHOP NOW tab. If you place an order with me before Sept. 30th I will send you a 20.00 rebate through PAYPAL! How awesome is that! Thanks for reading all information courtesy of Team Beachbody!

P90X Paleo- Friendly

Paleo-Friendly P90X Nutrition Guide

One of the great things about the P90X Nutrition Plan is its flexibility. Sure, everyone starts with the same, basic three phases—the Fat Shredder, the Energy Booster, and the Endurance Maximizer—but beyond that, the sky is the limit. Once you’ve tried all three, you can move amongst them as you see fit. And what foods you populate them with is entirely your choice. That could mean vegan or vegetarian eating, raw foods, or you could even give Paleo a try.

What was that, you say? You thought Paleo and P90X were, like, opposites? No way! It’s true that Tony Horton’s personal, largely plant-based way of eating isn’t terribly in line with the Paleo ethos, which relies heavily on meat and animal products. But when you look at the foundation of these two ways of eating—fresh, nutrient-rich, whole foods—you’ll find the same core values. They’re both great ways to eat.

The only problem is that Paleo eating features a few guidelines that make it tricky to fit into the P90X Nutrition, namely the exclusion of grains and dairy, as well as the increased reliance on fats and protein.

But that’s an easy workaround. Here you’ll find our attempt to create a Paleo-friendly nutrition plan that works in the P90X (and P90X2) structure. Of course, there are many degrees of Paleo eating, so we’ve tried to come up with something that you can adapt for the particular model you follow. Dairy is out, as are grains. However, some Paleo eaters, especially those looking for extra carbs for sports performance, might eat legumes (beans and peas), so we’ve included them, marking them with an asterisk (*) so that you can remove them if you’d prefer.

We’ve also included quite a bit of fruit, again for carb-based energy. If this just isn’t your thing, feel free to replace a fruit portion with a fat or protein portion.

This is a work in progress. In the same way we featured the P90X vegan modification in the Beachbody Newsletter before it appeared in P90X2 so that we could get your feedback, we’d love you to comment below with constructive criticism on this P90X Paleo-friendly plan.

Enjoy, cave people!

The Paleo-Friendly P90X Plans

1800-calorie Fat Shredder
Pro: 7
Fruit: 1
Veg: 4
Fat:  2
Leg/Tub: 1
Cond: 1
Snacks: 2

1800-calorie Energy Booster
Pro:  6
Fruit: 1
Veg: 6
Fat:  2
Leg/Tub: 1
Cond: 1
Snacks: 2

1800-calorie Endurance Maximizer
Pro:  3
Fruit: 2
Veg: 7
Fat:  2
Leg/Tub: 1
Cond: 2
Snacks: 2

2400-calorie Fat Shredder                                             
Pro:  9
Fruit: 1
Veg: 6
Fat:  3
Leg/Tub: 1
Cond: 2
Snacks: 2+1

2400-calorie Energy Booster
Pro:  7
Fruit: 2
Veg: 8
Fat:  4
Leg/Tub: 1
Cond: 1
Snacks: 2

2400-calorie Endurance Maximizer
Pro:  5
Fruit: 3
Veg: 10
Fat:  4
Leg/Tub: 1
Cond: 1
Snacks: 2

3000-calorie Fat Shredder                                             
Pro:  11
Fruit: 2
Veg: 8
Fat:  4
Leg/Tub: 1
Cond: 2
Snacks: 3

3000-calorie Energy Booster
Pro:  9
Fruit: 2
Veg: 10
Fat:  4
Gr: 0
Leg/Tub: 1
Cond: 3
Snacks: 4

3000-calorie Endurance Maximizer
Pro:  6
Fruit: 3
Veg: 12
Fat:  4
Gr: 0
Leg/Tub: 2
Cond: 3
Snacks: 3

Food Lists

Fats
Avocado – 3 ounces
Olive oil – 1 tablespoon
Olives – 4 ounces
Raw Nuts – 1 ounce
Flaxseed – 3 tablespoons
Coconut oil – 1 tablespoon

Protein
Chicken or turkey – 3 ounces
Eggs – 1 whole egg or 6 whites
Fish or shellfish – 3 ounces
Pork tenderloin – 3 ounces
Red meat, lean – 3 ounces
Tempeh* – 2 ounces
Tofu* – 3 ounces
Venison – 3 ounces
* This is a legume. Many Paleos avoid legumes.

Legumes & Tubers
Beans* – 1 cup
Edamame* – 1 cup
Lentils* – 1 cup
Parsnip – 2 cups
Peas* – ½ cup
Potato – 1 medium
Sweet Potato – 1 large
Yam – 1 medium
* This is a legume. Many Paleos avoid legumes.

Fruit
As per P90X or P90X2 Nutrition Guide

Vegetables
As per P90X or P90X2 Nutrition Guide. Note that string beans are a legume.

Condiments
Each serving = 50 calories

Due to the avoidance of sugar and legumes, condiments can be tricky. These condiment-like foods are approved by many Paleo experts:
Lemon juice
Vinegar (except balsamic)
Extra virgin olive oil
Tahini
Maple syrup
Honey

Snacks
Each serving = 100 calories
Unsweetened dried fruit – 1 once
Fruit – 1 medium piece
Seaweed – 10 ounces
Pumpkin seeds – 1 ounce
Raw nuts – ½ ounce
Baked kale chips – 2 cups
Celery and nut butter – 5 medium stalks and 2 tsp. nut butter

Because most protein bars, as well as Beachbody Results & Recovery Formula don’t adhere to Paleo standards, we’ve incorporated their calories and macronutrients into the plan elsewhere. And, Admittedly, this is a thin list, so we encourage you to explore healthy Paleo-friendly snack recipes.

You might also want to check out these two cookbooks for great snack and condiment ideas: